2011 BMW M3 Frozen Gray Track Edition

Last year BMW revealed a 30-unit limited edition BMW Frozen Gray M3 Coupe. All of those cars were sold in just 12 minutes and the company decided to create a new limited series dubbed Frozen Gray Track Edition which will only be available in the Netherlands. At this moment we don't know how many cars will be made but what we can tell you is that all of them are going to have the same special Frozen Gray paintwork.

The official debut of the car will be at the AutoRai show which will take place in Amsterdam from April 13-23.

2011 BMW M3 Frozen Gray Track Edition

Like the previous special edition, this one will come with the same matte frost gray paint finish, M-drivers pack, 19-inch black alloy wheels, a splitter, carbon mirror caps and black exterior details. In addition, it will benefit from an M Performance exhaust system as well as some carbon fiber parts plus red calipers.

Inside the cabin, customers will find a Novillo Schwarz arrangement with specific accents and a nice black leather interior with red stitching.

2011 BMW M3 Frozen Gray Track Edition

The car will benefit from the M3 Competition Package which means that the V8 4.0-liter engine will output 420 hp and 420 Nm of torque. The engine will be fitted with either a standard 6-speed manual gearbox or the optional M dual-clutch transmission. To improve fuel efficiency, the car will benefit from the start/stop technology which will also lower the CO2 emissions by 24 g/km.

Although there is no information about the price it should be around $77,600 as the previous Frozen Gray limited edition.

We will have more information about the 2011 BMW M3 Frozen Gray Track Edition this upcoming April when the car will be officially launched.

Photos via TopSpeed.com

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2011 BMW M3 Frozen Gray Track Edition Revealed

2012 BMW 650i Individual Convertible

With the introduction of the new 6-Series generation, BMW has announced that it will start offering the Individual range for this very beautiful convertible starting with this fall. Customers will have the possibility to choose from a lot of paintwork, interior fittings and alloy rims options. The Individual package includes only modifications brought to the exterior and the interior of the car so there is no power increase or any other hardware modifications which means that customers will have to be satisfied with the same V8 4.4-liter engine.

One of the exterior options available is the exclusive Tansanite Blue Metallic which will be available for the first time along with other interesting colors like the Agate Brown Metallic and the Brilliant White Metallic. Regardless of the chosen color, all the paint will be applied in up to seven different layers which will most likely offer great iridescent effects.

Aside from the new colors available, you can also choose the BMW Individual rear lettering as well as the BMW Individual 19-inch V-spoke light alloy rims. As an optional feature, you could get the massive 20-inch wheels for extra bling. All of the colors available can be combined with the BMW Individual Exterior Line Aluminum satinated or the BMW Individual High Gloss Shadow Line.

Inside the cabin, the BMW 650i Convertible will be offered with a full leather trim in fine-grain Merino stems which will be available for the instrument panel, center console, door trim panels and the seats. Customers can order it in Opal White, Cohiba Brown, Amaro Brown, Champagne or Platinum version. Any of these leather options will be able to be combined with either the Plane Auburn dark wood trim strip or the Piano Finish Black.

As mentioned before, no changes will be brought to the engine which means that the 650i Convertible will feature the same 4.4-liter engine that will output 400 hp between 5,500 rpm and 6,400 rpm and a maximum torque of 450 lb.-ft between 1,750 rpm and 4,500 rpm. The power unit can be linked to either a 6-speed manual transmission or the proprietary all-new 8-speed Sport Automatic gearbox. Regardless of the chosen gearbox, the top speed will be electronically limited to 155 mph.

Some of the car's main competitors will be the Porsche 911 Cabriolet, Jaguar XK Convertible and the Mercedes SL-Class.

The base price for the 2012 BMW 605i Convertible starts from $91,375 and the prices for the Individual package will be announced closer to the debut.

Photo via TopSpeed.com

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Preview – 2012 BMW 650i Individual Convertible

1963 Shelby Cobra

This car you see in these pictures is a 1963 Shelby Cobra with a CSX 2080 chassis number that hasn't been used or even touched for the last 20 years. The car will be listed at Auctions America by RM and according to the estimates made; it will probably be sold for almost $500,000. If I were to guess, I think it will go for almost $1 million, even more.

1963 Shelby Cobra

This particular car is considered to be as "one of the most original Cobras in existence", and if you take the word of the president of Auctions America by RM, Donnie Gould, this car will certainly be the masterpiece of any collection of classic cars. He said that "the discovery of CSX 2080 represents an important collecting opportunity for automotive enthusiasts."

1963 Shelby Cobra

The auction will be held on March 3^rd to 5^th in Fort Lauderdale at the Broward County Convention Center.

This 1963 Shelby Cobra has only had two owners in its almost 50 years of lifetime and its interior and body remains in a very good condition, taking into consideration that it hasn't been touched in two decades. That black interior and red exterior still look like a million bucks and who knows, they might actually worth that much.

1963 Shelby Cobra

The car still has its original engine which is a 289-cubic-inch small block V8 unit that outputs 271 hp @ 6,000 rpm and 312 lb.-ft of torque @ 3,400 rpm. Although these numbers are not very significant nowadays, back in the 60s it was one of the fastest cars in the world and the most beautiful I might add.

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Open Your Checkbooks – 1963 Shelby Cobra Up For Auction

Possible 2012 Audi Q3

The Q-Series family from Audi will soon receive another member as the long-anticipated Q3 will be released in the following period. This isn't really big news as the crossover has been in the works for quite a while. Up until recently we didn't had any spy photos of the car but the one above looks like the Audi Q3. The German automaker announced recently that the Q3 will go into production this year at the company's factory located in Martorell, Spain. Also, by 2013 Audi will decide on various A3 derivates, including a sedan.

Most likely, the new Q3 will borrow many design ideas from the Cross Coupe concept which is a car that isn't all that longer than the A3 compact hatch. The Cross Coupe measures only 172.4 inches, making it only one inch longer than the A3. The Q3 will most likely be a uniquely small-ish crossover. Other probable details that will be most likely borrowed include the larger than traditional Audi-style grille, a more aggressive exterior look, big rims, roof rails and LED daytime running lights.

According to some sources, the Audi Q3 will share the same platform as the VW Tiguan and most likely it will be available with a turbocharged 4-cylinder 2.0-liter engine that will output about 200 hp. In the works there is probably a diesel version. If there will be a TDI engine, the Q3 will most likely get the 3.0-liter V6 engine that churns 282 hp.

Once it will be officially launched, it will have to face up some great competitors in this segment: the Land Rover LRX, the Mercedes BLK Class and most important, the very popular BMW X1.

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Preview – 2012 Audi Q3

Autogyro

According to Carter Aviation Technologies, we need to forget about making flying cars and focus more on slow-rotor/compound. The Texas-based company considers that the SR/C is the ultimate key to a personal and more practical transportation aircraft. From the looks of this second-generation aircraft, he might be right as the project looks very promising.

The firm's latest flight test aircraft is a proof-of-concept unit of a 4-seat autogyro that is capable of doing a vertical takeoff and landing. The company has been testing the autogyro and at the beginning of this year they managed to complete a 36 minutes flight which is the longest they ever accomplished. By using computer controls that are similar to the ones found on many conventional aircrafts plus various automated systems, the pilot workload has been significantly reduced.

Benefiting from the SR/C technology, the aircraft has the ability to cruise more efficiently in comparison to a helicopter by using the wings and the slowed rotor during level flight. Despite the fact that it can't hover like a helicopter, it can however take off and land vertically which allows it to fly in and out of tight areas. The thrust is provided by the pusher propeller installed at the rear.

The autogyro pictured is a 4-place version of Carter's prototype that became the very first aircraft to achieve mu-1. This accomplishment is the key to Carter's vision as the ability to fly with a ? of 1 means that the drag of the aircraft is reduced. This mu ratio for a rotary wing aircraft is the ratio between the forward speed of the aircraft and the forward speed of the tip of the rotor. In order to reduce the drag, the purpose is to slow the rotor down enough so that a ? value of 1 is achieved which Carter managed to do with his promising prototype.

If this prototype will become a success, there are many chances that we will be able to see a much simpler version of the tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey which the military has been working on for quite a while, not managing to take off and land just like a helicopter and fly similar to a normal fixed-wing aircraft. As a matter of fact, Carter's technology is at the moment being analyzed by the military for creating a new method of transporting troops.

In the first phases of flight testing, the test pilots are evaluating and verifying the flight-control systems of the aircraft and attempt vertical landings and takeoffs. The next phase of testing will include adding a 45-foot wing to the autogyro and refining the slowed-rotor aspects of the flight envelope.

Although they said that there are no plans at the moment for production, the company said that it may team up with another firm in order to produce a version of this very interesting and promising autogyro aircraft that could revolutionize flying as we know it.

Source: Wired.com

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Forget Flying Cars, Autogyro Is The Future